Morphological findings at the carotid bodies of humans suffering from different types of systemic hypertension or severe lung diseases.

Abstract

Post-mortem studies of the carotid bodies of 62 humans were carried out using light microscopic and morphometric methods. According to the clinical and autopsic data the subjects were divided into 5 groups: normotensives, essential hypertensives, renal hypertensives, chronically hypoxic persons with severe lung diseases, and people who suffered from both lung diseases and essential hypertension. Carotid body volume showed age-dependence in the normotensive group; the biggest glomera carotici were found at an age of 40-60 years, whereas younger and older people exhibited smaller carotid bodies. In the group with the essential hypertensives only old patients exhibited enlarged carotid bodies. In younger essential hypertensives but also in the renal hypertensives an increase of carotid body size was not demonstrable. The people with severe lung diseases regularly had greater carotid bodies when compared with age-matched normotensive subjects. In addition, chronically hypoxic patients had a proliferation of type II cells, perhaps with involvement of Schwann cells and fibrocytes. This increases of elongated cells was only seldom observed in the other groups. The results are discussed with respect to the alterations known so far of arterial chemoreceptor function and reflex effects in systemic arterial hypertension.